Keller Williams is first to settle in Batton, will pay $20M 

Keller Williams has become the first brokerage to settle in the homebuyer commissions antitrust lawsuit known as Batton.

The proposed $20 million settlement was filed Feb. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In addition to the "ice-breaker settlement," the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote that KW will provide "highly valuable cooperation in the form of deposition testimony, trial testimony, and documents."

What KW has said: In an email sent to agents and leaders within the organization, KW President and CEO Chris Czarnecki said the settlement was made after "careful consideration for the immediate and long-term well-being of our franchisees and agents and the business model they depend on."

The settlement "allows us all to turn our attention back to what we do best: delivering unparalleled value in an ever-evolving real estate market," Czarnecki wrote.

What the case is about: Unlike the landmark Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson cases, in which the plaintiffs were homesellers, the Batton case was brought by homebuyers in 2021. Their lawsuit alleged that there was a conspiracy keeping commissions inflated, which resulted in higher home prices.

The National Association of Realtors, Anywhere Real Estate and REMAX were listed alongside KW as co-defendants in the original suit. Other big brokerages were added two years later in a case known as Batton 2.

The primary policy at issue was NAR's now-defunct Participation Rule, which required listing brokers to make a blanket offer of compensation to buyer brokers in order to submit a listing on an MLS.

The Batton case has picked up steam in recent months. In September, plaintiffs requested class certification to represent what they estimated would be millions of buyers who allegedly overpaid as a result of NAR's commission rules. The total monetary damages if the plaintiffs prevailed was estimated to be in the billions.

But the Batton case hasn't been without its challenges for the plaintiffs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit is currently weighing whether buyers who also sold homes — and were covered by the Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson settlements — can remain part of the buyer class. A decision is expected this spring.

NAR's reaction to the deal: KW's proposed settlement "does not directly affect NAR's position in the Batton litigation," an NAR spokesperson said in a statement to Real Estate News.

"We respect Keller Williams' right to settle these claims and anticipated the possibility they would do so," the spokesperson added. "NAR remains actively engaged in the Batton joint defense group, and we continue to defend our rules where questioned. Given recent history and the dynamics of this case, NAR continues to pursue all potential resolutions, both non-litigation and litigation, to reach a result that is in the best interest of our members, the industry and consumers."

KW's previous commissions settlement: Two years ago, Keller Williams reached a settlement in the Sitzer/Burnett case. The deal, which was announced four months after the October 2023 verdict, was for $70 million in damages and included changes to how KW handles commissions.

KW's latest settlement agreement comes as other brokerages have begun to settle commissions lawsuits brought by homebuyers. In January, Real Brokerage reached a settlement in the Cwynar case, an agreement that included putting an undisclosed amount into a "global settlement fund" alongside nearly a dozen other defendants.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a statement from an NAR spokesperson.